Close More Sales Deals with Opportunities

Learning Objectives 

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Describe the benefits of using opportunities. 
• Create opportunities.
• Develop and manage deals.
• Move opportunities through the sales process.

What’s the Big Deal About Opportunities?

Opportunities are deals in progress. In Salesforce, you use opportunities to track progress of your deals, easily access insights about who you’re selling to, and focus your team’s efforts on the win. 

Watch this short video to learn about the value Salesforce opportunities can add for your sales team.

Create an Opportunity

So you don’t miss out on Salesforce opportunities (pun intended), learn how to create an opportunity record.

1. Click the Opportunities tab, then click New.
2. Select the record type that best represents this opportunity.
3. Give the opportunity a descriptive name.
4. Select a close date for the opportunity.
5. Select the account that the opportunity is related to. If you don’t have an account, create one. (See Store Information About Your Customers.)
6. Select the opportunity’s stage.
7. Click Save.

Nice work! You’ve created a brand new opportunity. 

Develop Your Deals and Take Action

Now that you created an opportunity, go to its Activity tab and check out the productivity tools available for developing your deals and taking action.  

• Log a Call: Log the calls you make that pertain to the opportunity.
• New Task: Create tasks for key activities.
• New Event: Schedule upcoming demos, client meetings, or other important events.
• Email: Send email to the opportunity contact or other key decision makers.

You can also ask questions and strategize with colleagues using the Chatter tab. With the Related tool, add products, capture notes and add attachments, associate contact roles and partners, and view activity history.

Move the Opportunity Through the Sales Process to Close

To move your opportunity through the sales process to close, use a progress bar (known as the sales path) across the top of the opportunity record. This bar provides a visual indication of where your opportunity is in the sales process. If you hover over a stage, you can see the number of days the deal was in that stage.

1. To move the opportunity to the next stage, click Mark Stage as Complete.
   
   Note: If the opportunity is already closed, this button reads Change Closed State.
2. To close the opportunity, click Closed on the sales path. Then click Mark Stage as Complete.
   
   
   
   
3. Select Closed Won or Closed Lost.
4. Click Save.
   
   Note: If you need to revert the opportunity to a previous stage, click the correct stage and click Mark as Current Stage.

You just learned how to create and manage an opportunity. Now you’re ready to close more deals!

Resources 

• Trailhead: Opportunity Management
• Trailhead: Work Your Opportunities